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Fun Fact: Calls & Conferences Edition

This is Kenneth with some fun facts about the LINGUIST List for you. As I wrote in my personal letter earlier this week, I edit the Calls & Conferences area of the listserv (in addition to a few others). This area of the listserv features conference submissions from around the world. You can see for yourself using the interactive map at geoling.linguistlist.org .

Last year, we had over 2,000 unique conferences announced over the listserv. Each of these conferences gets edited by one of our editors. We try to make the conference announcements as clear as possible and correspond with the submitters if some things are not clear.

This is a super important area. Not only because this is what I do but because it provides such a huge collection of Linguistics conferences that you can search through, save, or forward to your peers.

As editor, I have a unique perspective. I’m stunned by how varied the field of Linguistics is.

That 2,000 conference figure mentioned above is actually the number of unique conference announcements. Each conference is allowed to post 3 calls for papers and a program announcement. Some conferences choose to simply announce a description of what the conference is geared towards. I’ve made a chart showing how the Calls & Conferences section has grown over the years.

9 years ago, the number of announcements was only two thirds of what it is now. Apparently 2015 was a bad year for the conference program. What do you make of this?

The LINGUIST List relies on donations from people like you to keep areas like Calls & Conferences going. Because of people like you, we can deliver this edited, moderated information.

If you appreciate the LINGUIST List as a source of events in the field or if you appreicate us in general, please donate at funddrive.linguistlist.org.